Each year, Alaskans take to the streets on Good Friday to memorialize the final hours of Christ’s life before his crucifixion.
This year, on April 19, Catholics and others will carry wooden crosses along the sidewalks and bicycle trails of Anchorage for the annual Good Friday Faith Walk. The outdoor devotion begins at various locations across Anchorage with the different groups walking and praying all 14 Stations of the Cross.
As they prayerfully make their way through the city, participants meditate on the steps Jesus Christ took through his Passion and death on the very first Good Friday. The various groups eventually meet together at Anchorage’s Town Square to pray the final stations together with Anchorage Archbishop Paul Etienne.
As groups process through the streets, they will follow a leader carrying a large wooden cross.
Once the faithful arrive at Town Square, one by one, the first 11 Stations of the Cross will be announced in slow succession. At the station, “Jesus is nailed to the cross,” a group, followed by Archbishop Etienne, will carry aloft a life-size, heavy wood, red-draped cross. Once the cross is carried to the second-floor outdoor terrace, Archbishop Etienne will lead the final stations.
For all locations and start times for the Good Friday Faith Walk, see the notice on the previous page.
Catholic Anchor, catholicanchor.org
